As the former Director of Marketing and Tourism for the Jasper County Alliance for Economic Development I am extremely disappointed to learn what is happening to this position. When the Chamber, Economic Development, Housing Development and CVB worked together under one umbrella promoting Newton as a place to live, work and play, we were able to accomplish all that is being described from the marketing angle and then some using the synergies of all four organizations. The proposed faceted approach will not fix the problem, only add another person to the mix with yet another marketing message.
The Convention and Visitors Bureau is a fantastic organization that markets the community from a tourism perspective. The Chamber and Economic Development promote and market the livability of the community. If the city wants to “fix” the issue and start looking bigger picture, a meeting should be had to bring these organizations back together. It is effective, and in a community the size of Newton, the most cost effective for these organizations is to come together for the betterment of the community.
The communities sited as examples in the article — Ankeny, Johnston, etc. — may all have a marketing division in their community but they also work with the Des Moines CVB. It is the Des Moines CVB that promotes the tourism efforts for these communities. They have a CVB to promote tourism for their community and the entire Des Moines region. There is a lot more a CVB Director does than market and by bringing this position in with the mission just to market is selling yourself short. Hire a marketing firm if all you want to accomplish is put together a new shiny marketing plan.
I would strongly encourage the city council to give me a call any time (515-331-6855) or contact the Iowa Tourism office and/or the Des Moines CVB to receive additional information before moving forward. You are selling yourself short — you can do better Newton.
Tiffany Menke
Ankeny